Socially Situated
by BlankJournal
Summary: An AU Naomi and Emily love story that begins in University. Emily is starting university a term late, knowing no one else, and is slowly introduced to the rest of the cast through realistic experiences. Ultimately, despite a clash with a certain misunderstood blonde whose attitude knows no boundaries, she ends up pushing past Naomi's security fortress until true love prevails.
1. Chapter 1

**AU; Naomi and Emily love story. Enjoy! **

**Chapter One: Late Arrival - Tuesday**

Emily finished unfolding her clothes and storing them in the wardrobe beside the door. She slid her suitcase beneath her raised bed and turned around to see the completion of her efforts. She crossed her arms and smiled before reaching across her bed to fix a picture of her family that hadn't been hung properly. Today, she had just moved into her dorm, a term late from having traveled across America before deciding to begin her studies. Freddie, the tall and lanky boy, with shaggy black hair and olive skin had helped her bring all her belongings up to her room. He lived in the room across the hall and seemed like a nice boy. He had left her for a while when she began unloading her clothes but returned now with a knock at the door.

The small brunette was snapped out of admiring her room and brought her attention to the knock. She answered the door, smiling once it revealed the helpful boy, and stood aside to let him in. "Come to see the finishing look have you?" Freddie was smart enough to know that the correct behavior was to say something nice about the room. She was looking for validation of her efforts and he gave it to her, "I think it's great, Emily. I uh… especially like what you did with your photos here." He pointed to the wall behind her desk, opposite her bed. She had covered that wall with her personal photography, mostly only of nature with occasional snapshots of random people from afar. He acted as though he was paying attention to specific ones and noticed her proud look.

"Thanks." Emily mumbled shyly before her stomach rumbled. "Hungry, eh?" Freddie turned to her amused. "Actually, yeah. I haven't eaten since breakfast; I'm starved." "Well, I'm sorry I can't join you for dinner. I've got a band meeting in fifteen, but I could walk you down to the cafeteria?" The girl frowned but hid it well and grabbed her iPod and phone and stored them in the back pocket of her tight jeans. "Don't forget your room key, it's an arse getting a new one if you get locked out of your room or lose it." Emily put her key card into the case on her university lanyard that also held her student I.D. and hung it around her neck. Freddie held the door open for her and closed it behind them before guiding them towards the elevators. "Where's the staircase?" The girl asked, not interested in getting lazy during her college career. Freddie rubbed his neck sheepishly and turned away from the elevator and led her through the nearby side door.

They went down six flights of stairs and Emily still had an easy spring in her step but Freddie was a bit winded. He was definitely out of shape but Emily avoided embarrassing him and looked the other way while he caught his breath. A moment later they were slowly walking through the lobby that was crowded with students. "It's nearly seven, which is right after all the day courses end and an hour before the evening courses begin so it gets most crowded now. I tend to avoid the rush but it's good if you want to meet new people. So… on that note, I'll leave you to it. Have a goodnight, Emily, was nice to meet you." "Yeah, thank you so much for helping me move in and showing me around, Freddie." "No problem. See you around?" "Sure." Freddie nodded and gave her a small smile before passing a group of students and exiting the building.

Emily took a deep breath and watched the intimidating crowd herd themselves into the food court, each taking their turn to swipe their student I.D. at the doorway. She couldn't even see inside the actual room because there were so many people in the way. Her shorter height, not below average, but still not exactly that close to that majority of students here, was also contributing to her lack of ability to see over them. She maneuvered her way closer and realized they were in some kind of haphazard line and settled in. It moved quickly and she made sure to have her I.D. ready to swipe. The student at the desk had his feet propped up and wasn't even paying attention to them, letting people swipe their own cards as they passed him. She noticed several people dishonestly not even bothering to swipe at all and bit her lip when it came her turn. Being her first time using her card she wasn't sure what side she was supposed to use, ultimately affecting how smoothly the line had been moving. A few people behind her mumbled and complained while the person at the desk finally looked up from his magazine to rescue Emily from her discomfort. She was expecting him to be rude and impatient with her lack of experience but instead he asked her if she was new and then showed her how to do it. Emily moved aside for the others while he kindly explained what to expect in the cafeteria. She understood though that despite his kindness this guy wasn't going to be a valuable friend because he kept glancing at her tits between words.

"Uh, yeah, thank you, I think I've got it." She shuffled away from him quickly and found herself standing in a massive room full of tables and more lines of students. She almost wanted to leave because of how socially intimidating it was for everyone to be talking so loudly and knowing so many people. She inwardly cursed herself for missing the orientation and starting late, clearly missing the point when many other people would be just as socially out of the loop as she felt right now. Emily practically jumped when someone from behind tapped on her shoulder. "What the fuck?" She whispered before turning around and seeing a brightly dressed girl with blonde hair. "Ello! I noticed you were new here and thought you might need some help!" She was shouting and her enthusiasm caused Emily to glance around and see if anyone was staring; surprisingly, they weren't. Slightly embarrassed, Emily answered, "Yeah, I started late after traveling America for a bit. Haven't had much time to get to know the campus and how it works yet." "Whizzer! Traveling America? I want to go to Hollywood one day and meet all the celebrities; Zac Efron is so lush I just want to make monkey and eat doughnuts with him all day long!" Emily choked on her tongue a bit when she said, "make monkey" but managed to recover. The blonde was oblivious to Emily's reaction and introduced herself. "I'm Pandora Moon by the way, my friends call me Panda though! You can be one of my friends and call me Panda too, if you'd like." "Uh yeah, sure, I'm Emily Fitch."

Together they moved forward and grabbed trays while Panda guided Emily through the various types of food available. "They make amazing pancakes here! You've got to try them!" "For dinner?" "Oh Emily, if you restrict yourself food based on time relative norms you're going to be missing out some magically delicious meals." "Isn't magically delicious attributed to Lucky Charms cereal?" "Exactly my point Emily, cereal makes an excellent dinner!" The brunette followed the blonde towards the cereal line but didn't make a bowl like her counterpart. She watched bewildered as her new friend took a sampling of all twenty of the cereals available and mixed them together before adding milk. "I like to call this the 'Pandapop Mix,' you've got to try it, it's fantastic Emily!" "I think I'm going to pass Panda, I may just have some pasta and the grilled vegetables that smell like fucking heaven…" Pandora shrugged and tailed Emily as she allowed the drifting scent lead her to their source. After taking a questionably large serving for her actual petite frame, Emily grabbed some cold water from the dispenser and avoided a careless student that almost knocked her tray over.

Despite Emily's protests that it would be impossible to find, Pandora found them an empty table among all the other filled ones. They sat across from each other and began their ravenous attacks on their food. After a couple minutes of silent eating, the brunette leaned back in her chair and rubbed her stomach, preparing it for the next few bites, and smiled at Pandora who was humming in delight with each munch. "So Panda, what are you studying?" Her face lit up excitably at Emily's question, "I was going to be a cosmetologist but after taking a few courses, they turned out right boring. This term I switched my courses into the culinary arts program. We do loads of cooking everyday and it's very hands on, it's loads of fun! The professor is like a mad scientist when it comes to flavors! He's always pushing us to create new things. He's brilliant! One time we spent an entire day just trying random things with melted chocolate, you would not believe some of the combinations that ended up tasting mouth-watering good!"

"That sounds wonderful Panda, you may even tempt me to join you. I_ love_ chocolate." Emily smiled. They each had a few more spoonfuls before Panda returned the question. "I'm minoring in photography and majoring to be a nurse, I think." Although it was definite she was pursuing those degrees, Emily added "I think" because most people she met had not supported her decisions and made her less confident talking about them. "Wow, that's blinkin' hard work doing two degrees; you must be crazy smart!" Emily blushed, shocked at the positive and unexpectedly encouraging response. "Well photography is more of a hobby that I just want to learn more about. I don't think I'm _that _smart." "Hogswash! I bet you graduated at the top of your college! I bet you'll make an amazing nurse, Emily!" "Thanks, Panda, you're too kind," Emily added genuinely. After an hour of meaningless chatter they both emptied their plates and returned their trays to the washing area and left the cafeteria. They realized Panda lived only a few doors down from Emily and swapped numbers before agreeing to meet up the following day and going their separate ways.

Emily smiled to herself for successfully making a new friend even after she had doubted her luck. Panda had an infectious enthusiasm that would be healthy to be around and cheer her up when she needed it, she thought. Just as she was about to take off her clothes and call it a night after a long day, she noticed music playing across the hall. Emily held still for a moment to try and make it out more clearly and realized it was not someone's iPod or stereo; that someone was actually practicing a relaxing melody on a ukulele. She was reminded of the iPod she had in her pocket because she had thought before that she would just listen to it while eating alone if she had not met Panda, or anyone for that matter. Removing it from her pocket she placed it on her desk and plugged it into her laptop to charge, along with her mobile.

Emily opened the laptop and logged into her student account and checked her courses to make sure the university had not made any surprising changes. As soon as tomorrow she would start taking physics, which she was dreading, as well as a few other science and English oriented classes. Tuesdays and Thursdays looked to be her most busy days of the week starting at nine a.m. and ending at five p.m. She was glad that her term was starting on Wednesday so she would have at least an easy day to get back into the taking notes and learning mode before the more studious days ahead. An hour and a half later, Emily had memorized the directions to each of the buildings her classes were taught and had learned the names of surrounding places to eat. She also checked out some job listings, realizing she was going to need a steady income to be able to go out to the city and have some fun on the weekends.

The petite girl closed her laptop and removed all her clothes aside from her underwear, thankful she didn't have a roommate to force her to adapt to wearing actual pajamas to sleep. She turned off the lights and climbed into bed. As she snuggled under her black comforter and closed her eyes she mentally planned out her next day, like she did every night, and decided she would make time to give her resume to the pizza shop across the dorm. Only a few anxious thoughts about hoping to meet more people tomorrow entered her head before the sound her mobile vibrating on her wooden desk startled her. She sleepily scooted to the edge of her bed and slowly removed the gap between her feet and the floor before dragging herself to her desk. Her eyes squinted at the brightness of her mobile until they adjusted and made out that she received a new text message. She opened it and read the long text tiredly, "Hey Emily, it's me, Panda, in case you didn't realize… I'm going to bed now because I start classes early tomorrow, but I just wanted to wish you a goodnight, especially because it's the first time your sleeping in the dorm! If you get scared of monsters in the closet feel free to intrude my room, my roommate isn't around much to complain! Sweet dreams! HUGS AND BUTTERFLIES – PANDA" She quickly replied, "Thanks Panda, same applies to you and the monsters and intruding… goodnight! – xo Emily."

Not wanting to be disturbed again when so close to drifting off, Emily turned her phone to silent before crawling back into bed. It was only a matter of a few minutes before sleep consumed her wandering mind in preparation for the next day…

**Thank you for reading! Feel free to comment/review and make my day! I'll do my best to update soon. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Going for the realistic approach, so Naomi won't appear until next chapter. Enjoy.**

**Chapter Two: Odd Job - Wednesday**

At eight a.m., from the far corner of the room, a quiet song started and gradually erupted into a booming concert of "I've got a pocket full of sunshine." Beneath the covers a small shape stirred, at first refusing the intrusion of her sleep but ultimately giving in to the passion of the chorus. She chuckled while she rubbed her eyes, remembering Emma Stone in Easy A and mentally made a note to see if the University offers that movie in their rent shop. Not wanting to angrily awake any other students that have time to sleep late, she hopped out of bed and turned the sound of her phone alarm down, just enough for her to listen to it while she got ready for the day.

Emily slipped off her underwear and grabbed her towel from the bar across her closet and wrapped it around her body. Her feet slid into her shower flip-flops while she reached over to grab her basket with her hygiene supplies. Lastly, she made sure to have her key and turned off her alarm entirely before exiting her room and heading down the hallway toward the women only bathroom. She quickly swiped her card through the bathroom lock, not wanting to be seen by anyone else awake, exposed in just a towel. She sighed relief as the door clanged shut behind her and not another soul appeared to be present. The bathroom was divided into two rooms connected by a hallway, one side for showers, and the other side for toilet-stalls and sinks.

Unable to resist the feeling of minty-freshness before anything else, Emily brushed her teeth in front of one of the many sinks and mirrors lined up along one wall. Once she was done she headed for the other side of the bathroom and hung her towel on the hook next to the furthest shower from the door. She placed her basket on the windowsill and removed her fruit-scented shampoo and conditioner, while managing to juggle taking her shaver and shaving cream in the other hand. Emily closed the shower curtain behind her and placed all her stuff on the floor, seeing no shelf within the very small space to put them. Not wanting to get blasted by the cold water before it turned hot, Emily maneuvered herself beneath the spout and close to the wall without actually touching it. However, after turning the water on while turning her head, she managed to hit the inside of her nose with the knob. She cursed her height and touched her hand to her nose that began to bleed profusely. As though things could not get any worse, Emily heard the distinct sound of the door clanging open and shut. She could not tilt her head back to make the bleeding stop because then the water would go up her nose, and she did not want to turn off the water to awkwardly turn it back on later while the other person was still in the room.

She stood there for a moment waiting to see if the person just had to use the loo and leave. Not hearing the door as quickly as she would have thought, Emily poked her head out for a second and discovered a glimpse of blonde hair before the shower curtain across closed. She waited until the other girl turned the water on and then Emily grabbed her unfortunately white towel and quietly ran to the other side of the bathroom to inspect her wound. Her hands were pooling with blood and she was using her towel to catch anything before it fell to the floor. She turned on the sink and quickly washed away all the excess blood and shoved a paper towel up her nose and tilted her head back. She attempted to examine her towel from the corner of her eye and sighed, realizing it was totally trashed and she was going to have to replace it. A few minutes later she checked her nose and the bleeding stopped. She was able to remove the paper towels and inspect the wound better, which luckily, was just a nice cut inside her nose-nothing that would make her look unusual to anyone outside. Nobody would know of this embarrassing moment...

Just as Emily was about to return to her shower she realized the other one had stopped. Not wanting to have to explain the already gross situation she hid herself in the nearest toilet stall. She listened to the clapping of the other girl's wet flip-flops against the floor. "What the fuck?" She heard mumbled with an emphasis on every word. Emily suddenly remembered her bloody towel was still lying on top of one of the sinks that she had forgotten in her rush to hide. She peeked through the crack of the stall and door and watched as the tall blonde just stood there from a few feet away looking at the mess. "Wha'ever." The girl shrugged, towel-wrapped, and brushed her teeth before exiting the room.

"Shit." Emily daintily grabbed her towel and brought it with her to the other side of the room, trying to fold it in a way that showed the least blood upon distant examination. She hurried back into the shower that had been left on, now hot, and washed her hair and shaved her legs. Once she was finished she promised she would bring a change of clothes to the bathroom for after showers in the future to avoid any possible extreme problems like these. She had her key ready in her hand, her towel-wrapped body, with the thought of how the gross dried blood was already disrupting the clean after-shower feeling cast aside as much as possible, and her basket in the other hand. She peeked outside the exit door and saw the coast was clear and ran to her room.

Without being seen, she shut her door behind her relieved. Emily immediately threw her towel in the bin and made sure the towel hadn't gotten her dirty. Satisfied with her cleanliness, Emily walked over to her closet and pulled out what she wanted to wear for the day and laid it out on the bed. She changed it several times before finally settling on a pair of black boy-shorts and bra for underneath her black skinny jeans and dark grey tank top. She slid a green sleeveless pullover over her head and some short, white socks over her feet. She added her red, Converse high-tops as the final touch.

Taking her black, sleek, messenger bag that carried her wallet, laptop, and student lanyard Emily said farewell to her room for the day. She nodded hello to the random students she passed in the hallway, already beginning to fill it when it had been vacant only a few minutes ago. Her soft, brown hair bounced from a few inches below her shoulder to her neck as she skipped down the steps to the lobby. It took her a few extra minutes to navigate the crowded space in the morning rush, but eventually, she managed to find the "University Stop & Shop." They sold everything from toothpaste to iPhones so she wasn't too concerned about finding a towel. Choosing with the wisdom of her experience, Emily selected a dark-colored towel that would not reveal many potential, future stains.

The cheerful mood she felt when she first woke up returned upon seeing Freddie working as cashier. "Good morning, Emily! Ready for your first day?" His demeanor was unusually calm. "I have already had some rough patches, but the day could only get better, I think." She chuckled as she handed him the towel. "That's definitely the best way to look at it." He smiled while accepting her student I.D. swipe for payment. "Oh, Freddie, you mentioned you were in a band the other night and I heard someone in our hall playing the ukulele… I was wondering if that was y-" "Oh, no. That would be J.J. He's a nice little boy. I'm surprised University hasn't chewed him up, but he insists he can handle it despite his er…" Freddie looked uncomfortable and instead changed the topic to Emily's total price of purchase and gave her the receipt. Emily confused, took the receipt and shoved the towel in her bag. He quickly offered to help the next customer and she took the hint that he did not want to elaborate on his answer.

Emily roamed the University streets, basking in the sunshine until she found the building of her first class. She paid close attention, as it was Intro to Photography, the class she had looked forward to most. It turned out to be a slight disappointment but she figured that was either because it was just an intro class or the fact that it was the first class altogether. The class concluded with an assignment for them to update their portfolios with a new selection of pictures that best described their interests within the realm of photography.

Checking the time, only thirty minutes after one, Emily decided that now was a good time to drop off her resume at the pizza shop. She walked to her dorm and then continued walking a few blocks further until she was standing in front of a short staircase and a large old sign, "Pete's Zaria." She shook her head at the pun and stepped up into the shop, not surprised at the chime of the bell as she opened the door. Despite the shabby and slightly dirty look of the small place, it was like every other place she had been, full of university students. The smell of fresh pizza overwhelmed Emily's senses and reminded her she had not eaten breakfast that morning. Instead of choosing to eat though, Emily opened up her bag and found her resume and walked up to the counter. She waited a minute for the people in front of her to make their orders before she asked where to drop her resume. He directed her through a door over to the side of the refreshments area. She pushed past a group of boys making crude comments as she passed and went through the door.

Seeing no other options, Emily walked down the narrow hallway to the one and only door there. When she opened it, she was shocked to find that it had taken her to a bar, as opposed to an office with a manager. "Hello baby!" A heavy, older man with a thick gold, probably fake, chain around his neck greeted Emily from behind the counter, dragging out his words. For a second Emily doubted the reality of the situation but the man removed such doubts when he saw the paper in her hands. "Come to drop of a resume, eh? Have a seat in my office." The other customers scattered around the bar were laughing quietly at his antics. Unsure of herself, Emily stepped closer and sat on one of the rickety bar stools in front of him. "Would you like a drink, doll?"

"It's like two in the afternoon… a bit early I think." Emily hid her disgust and almost wished she could retract her answer, considering the bar was full of other people shamelessly drinking at what she had just called "a bit early."

"Ah, keeping it classy! You'd make a good worker. You can start tomorrow!" He poured himself a beer and guzzled it down.

"Sorry? I didn't have the intention of being a bartender…"

"My bad, I am the proud owner of both of these fine establishments. This here is Keith's Pub, finest pub around, and I would be Keith."

"FATTEST, CHEAPEST, MOST BRILLIANT BASTARD OF THEM ALL!" Shouted one of the students a few tables over, crashing cups with his friends.

"Right you are, Cookie! Anyway, Miss…?"

"Emily."

"Right, Emma, I own Pete's Zaria too, so anyone wanting to work there has got to come here first, yeah?"

"So I have to work here before I can work at the pizza place?" Emily was utterly confused but the disgusting man just laughed at her.

"No baby, you just have to come in this room because I'm never working in the other room, it's science babe."

"GENIUS!" Shouted the guy dubbed "Cookie."

Really wishing the guy would stop calling her babe and baby, Emily pressed further for actually intelligent responses. "So I work at Pete's Zaria now? Do you need my resume?"

"Yes, you're part of the family now! And no resume necessary, I'd just chuck it in the bin as soon as you gave it to me, really. You've got good looks on ya and you sound like a semi-smart one—good enough to get the job done." He grabbed a few beers from beneath the counter and handed them to the people sitting at the bar, watching sports on the television on the wall. The T.V. was the only thing in either of the "establishments" that looked to be modern and kept in good condition.

"Great. When do I start?" She grimaced, knowing she needed the money and this was probably the easiest one she could get. She figured she could at least manipulate her boss with his level of intelligence if she had to miss a day at some point.

"Soon as ya can babe, we'll get ya trained and sorted."

The sandy-haired guy in the windbreaker left his mates and sat beside Emily in front of Keith. "Hey, Uncle Keith did you ever get that moped working again?"

"Oh, you're right Cook! Would have forgotten about that damn piece of rubbish if you hadn't reminded me. Come with me dolly!" Keith rubbed his large hands on a dirty towel before leading Emily and Cook through a warped wooden door that creaked as it opened. He flicked on a light against the wall and lit up the small garage with a rusty red moped in the center of it.

"That's a chariot, ain't it?" Cook took a sip of his beer in hand and gave Emily a toothy grin.

"Have a closer look." The old man gestured.

She ignored the fact that both of them were checking out her arse as she stepped down into the room and looked at the side of the vehicle. _Pete's Zaria's Delivery Distributor _was written in black sharpie. "Delivery Distributor?" Emily turned and looked back at them in disbelief.

"Yeah, I know lots of big words, ain't a soul that would question that piece of work!"

"It's brilliant, Keith. Even got one of those metal baskets to hold the pizzas. You're going to make a fine delivery gal, Emma."

"It's Emily." She sighed. She had never driven a moped before so this was going to require some practice before she could actually start the job. At least she would not be stuck in the bar or pizza shop dealing with more people like Cook and Keith.

"Right, Emily. I'm Cook." He outstretched his hand in her direction.

"Yeah, I got that, thanks." Emily ignored the hand that he had just wiped his mouth with moments ago and pushed past the both of them in the doorway and grabbed her messenger bag that she had left on the floor. "I'll start Friday."

"Good, you'll start Friday!" Keith repeated loudly back at her, laughing with Cook as she exited back through the hallway that had led her to the trashy little pub and went back into the pizza shop. She nearly missed seeing Panda sitting by herself with a book in the corner with two large slices of pizza on a tray in front of her. "Oh! Hello, Emily!"

With a deep sigh, Emily sat down across from her friend, "Hey Panda."

"You alright, Em? It's okay if I call you Em, right?"

"Yeah it's fine, Panda. And honestly, I think I have just signed up for what will be the craziest job for the most disgusting man in all of the U.K."

"Oh, really? That's wonderful Emily!"

"I guess at least I'll be making some money."

"You'll be able to buy loads of doughnuts!"

"Mhm, or anything else that may prove to be a bit _more _necessary... So why are you eating here all alone?" She watched as Pandora's face dimmed from the usual bright and cheery look she had. "Are _you _alright?"

"I was supposed to meet up with this girl I met from class but she hasn't shown up yet."

Emily lightly poked the cheese on Panda's pizza and felt that it was completely cold. "How long have you been waiting?"

"I think it's been an hour. But who knows, maybe she had to like, meet with a professor, or maybe her car broke, or maybe her boyfriend showed up and caused her to forget. I know if I had a boyfriend I would forget a lot of things." She said the last part almost dreamily.

Emily smiled at how innocent Panda was; clearly avoiding the idea that she had been stood up, even if it was just for a potential friendship. "Well, Panda, I think you should forget about this girl because clearly she doesn't know that she just missed out on one of the most amazing lunch's she could have ever had. Why don't you come workout with me? I was just going to stop at the gym for a bit."

"Maybe next time Emily, I think I'm just going to read my book for class." Perhaps Panda wasn't convinced that the girl wasn't going to come at all, yet.

"Alright, well you know where to find me if you change your mind." Emily stood up and gave Panda's arm a light squeeze before she exited the shop and returned to her dorm to change her clothes.

She slipped on a black sports bra and an old, white, t-shirt that said "Get Fitched" across the chest in bold letters. Her father would easily supply her with a new set of gear from the gym he owned, but Emily liked the feeling of wearing her clothes out; it gave her a sense of accomplishment. She grabbed her water bottle and filled it in the drinking fountain in the dorm hallway before she entered the staircase. She ran down the six flights of stairs and through the lobby, enjoying the feeling of her heart rate pick up. When she arrived that a large building about ten blocks to the right of the dorm, comprised of long and wide glass windows she took a few gulps of her drink. Her eyes lit up at all the shiny equipment inside, all fitted with individual T.V.s. They had a rack full of clean towels available in the far end of the room near two doors that led to lockers and showers. She could make out a basketball court through double-doors on the left side of the room and a massive grass field through double-doors on the right side of the room. This university was serious about fitness and keeping their athletes well equipped for success. She spent two hours alternating between the cycling machines and weight machines to work on her calves and biceps. Emily pushed herself to the fast pace of the music from her Ipod until she felt the satisfying burn and ache of her muscles. At some point she had removed her shirt when her sweat was making it uncomfortably clingy despite the howling of the boys. She wasn't one to show off her muscles, especially her defined six-pack. When Emily finished working out she covered her stomach with the t-shirt in her hands, and avoided making eye contact with the guys around the room that were ogling her body.

She felt safe to uncover herself when she was enclosed in the warmth of the showers. These ones had more space and felt cleaner than the ones at the dorm. It wasn't long before she decided she had to get out and continue on with her day. However, instead of going back to the dorm to get some work done she ended up taking a curious look into the football field. The guys were practicing aggressively, totally oblivious to the small crowd that had gathered on the stands. Emily took a seat a few rows up and watched, realizing she recognized Cook but none of the others playing. After fifteen minutes, a very skinny, darkly clothed, pale girl with startling blue eyes sat next to Emily. "You're new here." She said.

Put off by the statement, Emily casually put a bit more distance between her and the girl before answering, "Uh, yeah? How'd you know?"

"You're Emily Fitch, aren't you?"

"What are you? My stalker?

"No, my roommate talks about you. You fit her description."

Emily relaxed a little, "Oh, who's your roommate then?"

"Panda."

"Oh."

A few minutes of silence passed. Emily turned to watch the guys continue to play while she felt the blue eye's continue to gaze at her. After thinking for a bit she realized she hadn't asked the girl her name. "Sorry, what was your name then?"

"Effy Stonem. My brother plays." She gestured to the dark-haired guy, taller than most of the other players, who was currently kicking the ball down the opposite end of the field. More silence. "You're different."

"What?" Emily gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?" She was starting to get frustrated with how frequently she had been getting confused that day. She wished people would stop saying odd things abruptly.

"I'm not sure yet."

"Well, that's helpful."

"We'll find out soon enough." The girl shrugged. Emily wasn't sure why, but this sense of comfort at the thought of being different and finding out why soon, enveloped her.

"So… are you and Panda friends?" She tried to start a normal conversation with the odd character.

"That's what she calls us."

"And what about you?"

Effy smirked; this girl was catching on. "We met in college and still hangout." It wasn't a clear answer, but it was enough for one to make a comfortable assumption.

"Panda got stood up by a friend for lunch today." Emily didn't know why she shared this information; maybe it was just the only common ground. The words just kind of fell out of her mouth…

"Shit happens."

"Yeah." Neither of them was talking about what happened to Panda anymore. The two girls fell back into a sad silence. They watched the football travel up and down the field between the flailing feet and competitive name-calling.

"Do you want to come with me and have dinner with Panda?"

"I'll pass."

Emily watched as the girl pulled out a pack of fags and lit up. As Effy slid them back into her pocket Emily asked, "Aren't you going to offer me one?"

"Didn't think you smoked." Effy said matter-of-factly.

"But it's polite to ask."

"Do you want one?" She asked without bothering pulling them out again, to entertain the shorter girl.

"No thanks."

"Right then. From now on, I will assume you'll ask for one if you want one." She smirked as she exhaled smoke into the light wind.

"Fine." Emily sighed, "See you around."

"Perhaps."

On her way back Emily did a bit more exploring around the campus. She discovered a lounge in the basement of her dorm that had several pool tables, ice-hockey tables, a large T.V., a jukebox, a couple desks, and plenty of couches and chairs. What made the room special was that it wasn't crowded like all the other rooms meant for studying because it was so hidden in the less-renovated part of the building. She decided next time she had to study or let off some steam she would take Panda and maybe Effy down there with her.

Her evening ended significantly less eventfully than her day had been. She ended up just having a microwave meal in her room instead of eating with Panda, while watching a few episodes of the Big Bang Theory on Netflix. She texted her blonde friend a few times while trying to do her homework but ended up giving in to the comfy bed that was calling to her. Emily decided a good rest was needed for the long day of classes that was going to be tomorrow. She set her alarm for seven so she would have time to have a shower and breakfast before her first physics course… anything that would make that early and dreadful class a little bit less horrible. She wondered if Thursday could be any crazier than today had been…

**Thank you for reading. Comment/review?**


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